Standard helicopter controls require a pilot to coordinate vision with hand and foot movements in order to successfully fly the aircraft. The standard controls include a cyclic stick, a collective pitch stick and rudder foot pedals. The cyclic stick, operated by a pilot's right hand, serves to change the tilt of the helicopter's main rotor disk to direct forward, backward and sideward movement. The collective pitch stick, operated by the pilot's left hand, alters the pitch on the main rotor blades for governing ascent and descent of the helicopter. The collective stick also includes a rotary type throttle for adjusting engine speed. A third set of controls includes the anti-torque (or rudder) comprising a pair of foot pedals manipulated by the pilot's feet. These foot pedals direct the heading of the helicopter by varying the pitch of the tail rotor blades, thereby varying the horizontal thrust produced by the tail rotor. In order to successfully fly a helicopter, the pilot must simultaneously manage the throttle, collective pitch, cyclic pitch and anti-torque, employing the right and left arms and both feet, thus requiring a high degree of eye-to-hand and eye-to-foot coordination.
For example, as the collective pitch is increased (accomplished by raising the collective control with the left arm) additional throttle is required (via rotation of the pilot's left hand) in order to maintain engine speed. Increasing engine power then makes it necessary to change the rudder via movement of the left and right foot pedals in order to compensate for increased torque created by the engine. Throughout the adjustment of the above mentioned controls, the pilot's right hand is kept busy operating the helicopter's cyclic control stick.